Additive manufacturing is undergoing a revolution as it moves from the model and tooling shop and onto the factory floor, according to Marc Saunders, allowing firms to create innovative new products that deliver increased performance in use and which couldn’t be produced conventionally.

Saunders will explore the drivers behind this transition and the increased demands that series production places on additive manufacturing to deliver predictable, consistent parts. He will also look at the chains of linked processes and tools that are needed to create an integrated manufacturing process with additive at its heart, and the controls that must be employed to make it a mainstream manufacturing process.

Paul Adams will take a strategic perspective in his presentation entitled Additive, Brexit and Aerospace Supply Chains.

He commented: “Advancing low-cost competition is disrupting global supply chains and investment in 3D printing and other novel manufacturing technology has become mission-critical for manufacturers in the aerospace and automotive sectors, but a clear investment strategy is essential.”